Sex in honour of God (11th of September 2016)

Sex in honour of God? Would you, believe that? Well, today’s reading leaves just that out. It also leaves out the cruelty of the incidence. Here is today’s reading from the beginning of the chapter on:

[1] And when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down out of the mount, the people gathered themselves together unto Aaron, and said unto him, Up, make us gods, which shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we wot not what is become of him. [2] And Aaron said unto them, Break off the golden earrings, which are in the ears of your wives, of your sons, and of your daughters, and bring them unto me. [3] And all the people brake off the golden earrings which were in their ears, and brought them unto Aaron.

[4] And he received them at their hand, and fashioned it with a graving tool, after he had made it a molten calf: and they said, These be thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt. [5] And when Aaron saw it, he built an altar before it; and Aaron made proclamation, and said, To morrow is a feast to the LORD. [6] And they rose up early on the morrow, and offered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings; and the people sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up to play.

[7] And the LORD said unto Moses,

Go, get thee down; for thy people, which thou broughtest out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves: [8] They have turned aside quickly out of the way which I commanded them: they have made them a molten calf, and have worshipped it, and have sacrificed thereunto, and said, These be thy gods, O Israel, which have brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.

[9] And the LORD said unto Moses, I have seen this people, and, behold, it is a stiffnecked people: [10] Now therefore let me alone, that my wrath may wax hot against them, and that I may consume them: and I will make of thee a great nation. [11] And Moses besought the LORD his God, and said, LORD, why doth thy wrath wax hot against thy people, which thou hast brought forth out of the land of Egypt with great power, and with a mighty hand?

[12] Wherefore should the Egyptians speak,

and say, For mischief did he bring them out, to slay them in the mountains, and to consume them from the face of the earth? Turn from thy fierce wrath, and repent of this evil against thy people.

[13] Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, thy servants, to whom thou swarest by thine own self, and saidst unto them, I will multiply your seed as the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have spoken of will I give unto your seed, and they shall inherit it for ever. [14] And the LORD repented of the evil which he thought to do unto his people.

Sex in honour of God?

But where does it say that in this? Well, read carefully!

After Aaron had made the golden calf in verse 4, he said in Ex. 32: 5, ‘To morrow is a feast to the LORD.’ In the Hebrew text it actually says the name of God whenever it says the LORD in the English Translation. The people actually thought that this calf was an image of God. Bulls were strong and feared animals and God obviously is very strong. So just as we sometimes visualise God to be an old man with a long beard in spite of the commandment not to have images of what is in heaven, the Ancient Hebrews visualised God as a Bull, probably because of his strength!

So where is the sex in honour of God? After Aaron had built an altar in verse 5 the people (Ex. 32: 6), ‘… rose up early on the morrow, and offered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings; and the people sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up to play.’

So they played!

In Gen. 26: 8 King James translated this word as ‘sporting’. In that verse king Abimelech of Gerar saw Isaac ‘sporting’ with Rebekah which made him realise that she was his woman (There is no word for wife in Hebrew). So there it is. The people had sex in honour of God!

St Jerome translated ludere into Latin. This word might have developed into the German Luder, a careless girl who would ‘play’ with many, and the English lewd.

In Ex. 32: 25 King James even translated that Moses saw the people being naked! Other translations say ‘out of control’, ‘broken loose’, or ‘unbridled’. But these are just expressions for following their unrestrained feelings (see Greetings from Paradise the chapter ‘Ecstasy)! The Ancients saw this feeling of unrestrained ecstasy as a feeling of being close to God!So they used sex in honour of God to bring on His presence! They saw this state of sexual arousal as the state of prophecy! (see also Where Did Abraham’s Servant Put His Hand?)

So God never forbade sex. It is actually the ‘Image of God’ in Gen. 1: 27. The only property worth mentioning about God’s creation was to be male and female! Not an upright stance, not a big brain or an opposable thumb to use tools, not language, only to be male and female! It is divine way to come into the presence of God! (See also Rabbi Schneerson, ‘Toward A Meaningful Life’ Chapter ‘Why is Sex so Powerful?’)

So why did Moses punish the people?

In Ex. 32: 26 to 29 Moses and the Levites slew three thousand men over this incident. Why that, if they had had sex in honour of God? The answer is in the last verse of the chapter, Ex. 32: 35, ‘And the LORD plagued the people, because they made the calf, which Aaron made.’

The people were punished for making another God! This is an offence against the First and foremost Commandment and the Second also (Ex. 20: 2 to 6 to 5), ‘I [am] the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness [of any thing] that [is] in heaven above, or that [is] in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God [am] a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth [generation] of them that hate me;’

So that was the reason for the punishment! Not the sex in honour of God. Sex is divine!

Incidentally,

is the Western World worshipping another god? Is the bull – god of whom there is an image outside the Wall Str. Stock Exchange the god of the Western World. Do we serve him every day of our lives? If he commands us to harm the God – given environment, will we do so? When he commands us to waste non – renewable resources of materials and energy, will we do so? If he commands us to produce unnecessary Carbon Dioxide, will we do so? When he commands us to plan obsolescence for our products, are we doing this, even though it makes no scientific sense?!

So will God ’visit our iniquity upon our children unto the third and fourth [generation]?’

The LORD bless thee, and keep thee: The LORD lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace.

Amen!

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